Erick's Battle log

[Erick the Red]

Four cardinal Greek virtues as describes in Plato's The Republic:

1. Wisdom

2. Courage (spirit)

3. Moderation (temperance, channeling of desire)

4. Justice

[Erick the Red]

Multi-Challenge Life Quest:

 

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.  The second best time is today.â€

 

I will fight in armor on Hastings Field at Gulf Wars in March 2015.  

 

I have done about as much research as I can without actually getting in and mixing with real people, which is the hard part hard for me.

 

I won’t be tracking progress on this every day, but I will update as I complete each step. 

 

a) Get to local SCA meetings after my eight-year hiatus.

1. Attend business and other meetings to get to know more people and make personal connections that I will need later.

b ) Meet local fighters and ask for help with equipment and technique.

1. E-mail local marshal and ask about meeting with him or deputy to make a concrete plan.

c) Get to local practices and try out loaner gear and learn some technique.

1. Determine location and time for local practices (part of b above). 
2. Figure out how often I will be able to go and make the time.

d) Save money for my own weapons and armor.

1. I have already determined some plans, but I need to run the plans past some other more experienced locals to make sure they will pass local kingdom rules.

e) Learn how to make and take care of my own weapons and armor.

1. involves getting tools and learning how to use them

Updates below.

[Erick the Red]

Multi-Challenge Life Quest:

 

This has turned out to be harder than I had thought, but I am determined to make this happen.  Progress so far:

 

a) Get to local SCA meetings after my eight-year hiatus.

1. Attend business and other meetings to
   and make personal connections that I will need later.

Update: Still have not got to the business meeting.  But I have talked to the local group leader (seneshal) and know the location and time for the meetings.  Because of family commitments and a sick babysitter I was unable to go this week, but I will keep trying.  I did make it to a kingdom level event last weekend, and made some connections there.

 

b ) Meet local fighters and ask for help with equipment and technique.

1. E-mail local marshal and ask about meeting with him or deputy to make a concrete plan.

Update: The local marshal doesn't seem to check his e-mail.  Still trying to figure this one out.

 

c) Get to local practices and

and learn some technique.

1. Determine location and time for local practices (part of b above).
2. Figure out how often I will be able to go and make the time.

Update: To the best of my knowledge the local practices are still occasional and on Sundays when I can't get there.  When the weather is nicer and they are happening during the week then I will get out.

 

d) Save money for my own weapons and armor.

1. I have already determined some plans, but I need to run the plans past some other more experienced locals to make sure they will pass local kingdom rules.

Update: So I "jumped the gun" a little bit and bought a nice helmet.

 

e) Learn how to make and take care of my own weapons and armor.

1. involves getting tools and learning how to use them

Update: Purchased a shield boss to make a Viking-style round shield.  When it comes in I will get wood, glue, fabric, rawhide, and other stuff to make the shield.

[Erick the Red]

In listening to a comparative religions course during my commute, I have been interested in some of the Mahayana Buddist ideas. 

Six Perfections of Mahayana Buddism: 

1. Generosity: The perfection of generosity is to cultivate an attitude of non-clinging.

2. Ethical discipline: It is said that the cultivation of inner discipline lays the foundation of a peaceful mind.

3. Patience: If one wants to develop a bodhisattva's patience, the first step is to reflect on the advantages of suffering and hardships.

4. Enthusiastic effort: The Tibetan scholar Gampopa defines the fourth perfection as a feeling of joy in virtue that implies having an excellent motivation, excellent applied effort in virtue, and continuing perfecting motivation and

effort.

5. Concentration: To develop concentration, one has to discipline and stabilize the mind and refine the intellect. It is also necessary to pay constant attention to the first four perfections. An ethical lifestyle is essential, since unwholesome physical and verbal actions make the mind turbulent.

6. Wisdom: Practicing the perfection of wisdom is to develop the ability to see the reality of existence without false conceptuality.

 

Also described as generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom.

[Erick the Red]

According to this page, The Three Hunters (Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas) walked and ran for 135 miles from the Breaking of the Fellowship until they meet Eomer and travel by horseback.

[Erick the Red]

Totally uninspired to put a set of goals together for the next challenge cycle starting this week.

 

I'm going to continue to run, I'm just not sure how to "gamify" it any more that helps with motivation.

[Erick the Red]

Multi-Challenge Life Quest

 

Closed out these mini-goals.  Posted some more below.

 

a) Get to local SCA meetings after my eight-year hiatus.

1. Attend business and other meetings to
   and make personal connections that I will need later.

Update: Made it to a business meeting, met some nice people.

 

b ) Meet local fighters and ask for help with equipment and technique.

1. E-mail local marshal and ask about meeting with him or deputy to make a concrete plan.

Update: Talked to him and others at the fighter practice and put the plan together.

 

c) Get to local practices and

and learn some technique.

1. Determine location and time for local practices (part of b above).
2. Figure out how often I will be able to go and make the time.

Update: Made it to fighter practices about every other week so far this summer.

 

d) Save money for my own weapons and armor.

1. I have already determined some plans, but I need to run the plans past some other more experienced locals to make sure they will pass local kingdom rules.

Update: Bought/made all I need for basic authorization.

 

e) Learn how to make and take care of my own weapons and armor.

1. involves getting tools and learning how to use them

Update: Throughout the past six months, I have bought leatherworking tools, woodworking tools, and a lot of materials.  For my helmet I made shaped padding and a leather chin-strap. I made my own center-grip shield, all except for painting a nice design on the front.

[Erick the Red]

Multi-Challenge Life Quest:

 

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is today.â€

 

at Gulf Wars in March 2015.

 

Now that I have armor and have gone to a few practices and events, I just need to keep on the right path.

 

a) Practice weekly or more often:

1. Make a pell for sword training.

b ) Attend training events such as Fighter's Collegium  and mini-wars such as Castle Wars.

 

c) Get in better physical condition ("Fit to Fight")

1. Eat better: every day before bed, prepare breakfast and lunch for the next day.
2. Daily physical exercise: I have fallen out of the habit of strength training, even though I run when I can.  I should be doing both.

[Raxie]

Hope all is well with you, Erick!

[Erick the Red]

Hope all is well with you, Erick!

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Going all right, could be doing a lot better with the exercise and diet.

 

Life update: finished my first half marathon on Saturday, 20 September 2014.  Finished in just under 2 hours and ten minutes, which was my goal time averaging ten minutes per mile.

[Erick the Red]

27 September was my first SCA tournament, the Meridian Grand Tourney.

I was "killed" just about every time I went out on the field, but it was fun and I got to spend the day with my family there as well.

Walked away with some big bruises as well, so I'll be working on tightening up my game as well as beefing up my armor.

Something for the shoulders, thighs, and torso, but not so constrictive it gets in the way. 

[Raxie]

(the like is for the tournament awesomeness... not necessarily for the bruises etc )

[Erick the Red]

(the like is for the tournament awesomeness... not necessarily for the bruises etc )

 

Thanks.  Thursday practice was fun since before and in between rounds on the field we got to show off/complain about bruises to each other.  Team-building exercise.

[Erick the Red]

I am at my lowest fitness point in years.

 

Recently again reached my highest weight (175 lbs at 5'9", or 79.4kg at 1.75m), but this time I have not been lifting weights three days a week, so it is even less useful weight than I had after my third NF challenge (linked below).

 

But I still can't find the motivation to lose the fat. 

 

Vanity isn't enough - I'm almost forty-years old and married, how often do I need to look good with my shirt off?

 

Performance isn't enough - I recently finished my first half-marathon, and while I'm sure I could have done better without all this extra weight to carry around, I still did it.  With a little practice, I'm sure I can still get faster and go longer.

 

I know how to do it.  I can do it either through calorie counting or eating paleo.  I did it once.  And those six months were hard (challenges four through seven).  Either tracking food or eliminating food, both turned out to be difficult to keep up.  I only got there because I had a clear vision to follow and I surrounded myself with supporting Nerd Fitness folks.

 

 

I can't find my "yes".

 

It would be nice to have a prettier body.  It would be nice to be more fit.  But right now the price just seems too high. 

 

I am not the same person that I was then.

 

 

 

So, something I am working on.

 

3 Big Questions To Find Your Big ‘YES’

1) What is your overarching purpose and vision? What’s your life mission on earth about?

 

2) Who are you (self-identity)? What are you about, really?

 

3) What are your highest values that you live by (your core values)?

[Erick the Red]

16 October 2014

177 pounds

Prepared food and clothes for today to make time for morning exercise.

Exercise this morning: 10 BW squats, 10 push-ups, 3 close-grip chin-ups, ran 3 miles.

 

I'm going to find something nice that costs about one hundred dollars, and save the money each week that I would otherwise have spent on junk food towards buying it.  I think that, along with posting here, will help.

[Raxie]

That's awesome!  Slow and steady

[Erick the Red]

Went to see a motivational speaker at my work yesterday (I am a civilian working for the US military on a large military installation).

 

The speaker's name is Noah Galloway.

 

 

Sergeant Noah Galloway (retired) is an athlete, a motivational speaker, a writer, a personal trainer and a father of three.  Following September 11, 2001, he enlisted in the Army and was eventually deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division in 2003. Noah spent one year fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which he says got him "hooked" and from that moment he knew he wanted to return. "I loved my job as an infantry soldier," says Noah. "In the first year I was there, I saw the difference and progress we were making.  I could not wait to return. Just the thought of going back thrilled me." After becoming a husband and father, he returned for a second tour in September 2005. It was only three months later when the armored HUMVEE he was driving struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Yusafiah, Iraq.  Unconscious for five days, Noah woke late Christmas Eve, in Walter Reed Hospital, to find out he had lost his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee, and had sustained significant injury to his jaw and other leg.  He sums it up simply: "I was done."  His recovery was as rough emotionally as it was physically, overcoming both depression and divorce.

 

Since then, he has remarried and has dedicated himself to fitness, both mental and physical.  Despite his injuries, Noah has participated in the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon, three warrior Dash events, 7 Tough Mudder events, a Barbarian Challenge, a dozen Spartan events, the grueling 58-hour Spartan Death Race, the Bataan Death March Marathon, 3 Crossfit competitions and several 5k and 10k races.  His incredible achievements and ability to overcome adversity have landed him on next month's cover of Men's Health magazine as the first-ever Ultimate Men's Health Guy. Noah is determined to inspire others by his actions, by training like a machine and demonstrating that challenges are meant to be conquered no matter how big they might be.

 

I was really inspired to clean up my fitness life.  I have been putting off doing the "hard" things for too long.

[Erick the Red]

I am trying to re-create my physical fitness life, and this was really helpful.

 

Creative People Say "NO"

 

Saying “no†has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations. The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more than you know. We are not taught to say “no.†We are taught not to say “no.†“No†is rude. “No†is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No†is for drugs and strangers with candy.

 

Creators do not ask how much time something takes but how much creation it costs. This interview, this letter, this trip to the movies, this dinner with friends, this party, this last day of summer. How much less will I create unless I say “no?†A sketch? A stanza? A paragraph? An experiment? Twenty lines of code? The answer is always the same: “yes†makes less. We do not have enough time as it is. There are groceries to buy, gas tanks to fill, families to love and day jobs to do.

 

People who create know this. They know the world is all strangers with candy. They know how to say “no†and they know how to suffer the consequences.

 

I need to say "NO" to more things than I do, in order to be able to say "YES" to the things that are most important to me.

[Jakkals]

Thanks for posting that link. 

 

It is what I am working towards in the future, and what most of my next challenge will be about.

[Erick the Red]

"How can you build the habit of success and put your focus there, instead of chasing the motivation to make it happen?"

[Erick the Red]

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

 

Stanley Kubrick: Interviews (2001)

[Tearose]

I am trying to re-create my physical fitness life, and this was really helpful.

 

Creative People Say "NO"

 

 

I need to say "NO" to more things than I do, in order to be able to say "YES" to the things that are most important to me.

 

“‘It is only half an hour’ — ‘It is only an afternoon’ — ‘It is only an evening,’ people say to me over and over again; but they don’t know that it is impossible to command one’s self sometimes to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes — or that the mere consciousness of an engagement will sometime worry a whole day … Who ever is devoted to an art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it. I am grieved if you suspect me of not wanting to see you, but I can’t help it; I must go in my way whether or no.â€

 

 

Love this. So many great links in here Erick! subbed!

[Tearose]

 

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas

 

I do not understand what this means.  But reading it, I get the feeling that its meaning is in there, waiting for me to find it.  I will read it again occasionally and think about it.

 

 

I love this, not sure what it means either, I think... do not just lay down and die, fight till your last breath. At least that is my take.

[Tearose]

I am at my lowest fitness point in years.

 

Recently again reached my highest weight (175 lbs at 5'9", or 79.4kg at 1.75m), but this time I have not been lifting weights three days a week, so it is even less useful weight than I had after my third NF challenge (linked below).

 

But I still can't find the motivation to lose the fat. 

 

Vanity isn't enough - I'm almost forty-years old and married, how often do I need to look good with my shirt off?

 

Performance isn't enough - I recently finished my first half-marathon, and while I'm sure I could have done better without all this extra weight to carry around, I still did it.  With a little practice, I'm sure I can still get faster and go longer.

 

I know how to do it.  I can do it either through calorie counting or eating paleo.  I did it once.  And those six months were hard (challenges four through seven).  Either tracking food or eliminating food, both turned out to be difficult to keep up.  I only got there because I had a clear vision to follow and I surrounded myself with supporting Nerd Fitness folks.

 

 

I can't find my "yes".

 

It would be nice to have a prettier body.  It would be nice to be more fit.  But right now the price just seems too high. 

 

I am not the same person that I was then.

 

 

 

 

So, something I am working on.

 

3 Big Questions To Find Your Big ‘YES’

1) What is your overarching purpose and vision? What’s your life mission on earth about?

 

2) Who are you (self-identity)? What are you about, really?

 

3) What are your highest values that you live by (your core values)?

 

Oh man that sums up the past 2 years. I lost 132 lbs from 2005- 2009 (most of it in 2009), and 2 years ago I was in the best shape of my life, and then just let it all go, now I am trying to get it back. We can DO THIS.

[Erick the Red]

Following a Wiki-wander inspired by Anathema's Vampire the Requiem campaign, I think I will use the four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, courage) and maybe the three Theological Virtues (faith, hope, charity/selfless love) to format a future challenge.